Teetan moves up to joint-second with a treble
Mauritian now in joint-second spot with Purton with 29 winners in HK jockeys' table, nine behind Moreira
A treble at Happy Valley on Wednesday night took jockey Karis Teetan to joint-second with reigning champion Zac Purton in the jockeys' championship table.
The duo are on 29 winners, nine behind Joao Moreira.
"It's going well. You always appreciate the support and days like this. I just need to put my head down and keep working," said Teetan, after he sealed his three-timer aboard Namjong Plus in the Class 3 Kennedy Town Handicap over 1,650m.
The Mauritian ace also scored on Chunghwa Jingshen in the opener, the Class 5 Sheung Wan Handicap over 1,000m, and on Best For You in the Class 4 Shek Tong Tsui Handicap over 1,650m.
Namjong Plus held off the fast-finishing Reel Bizzy for his sixth Hong Kong win at his 26th start.
"I thought he was knocking on the door - he deserved the win," said Teetan.
The Zacinto seven-year-old stepped away cleanly from the inside draw to hold a position close to the speed on the rails.
He then peeled out at the 400m mark to take over with 100m left.
"I think the draw helped him. If I hadn't drawn Gate 1, I could have ended up using him a bit to get a decent position," said Teetan.
"I knew the leader was going to take me into the race and I got a nice trail right through.
"He fought on nicely, he got lost a little bit when he hit the front because he hit it pretty early. The horse down on the outside encouraged him a little bit to keep going."
Chunghwa Jingshen gave trainer Peter Ho the first leg of a running double. He took the next race with Hay Run in the Class 5 Victoria Handicap over 2,200m under Derek Leung.
Like Namjong Plus, Best For You is also trained by Me Tsui.
"Best For You had a good spot and I was actually surprised that he broke so well. Me said to me he's been jumping well, so if he does, take that advantage and sit him in a good position," said Teetan.
"I felt Zac on my inside and I think my horse was not finding much until he came. It encouraged him to go again." - HKJC
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